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Warning: I learned the hard way that factory paint thickness specs are way thinner than I thought
So I was working on a 2018 Honda Accord last week, trying to blend a door. Pulled out my paint gauge just to check things, and I was shocked. The factory layer was like 4.5 mils on that panel. I always figured it was thicker, maybe 6 or 7. I found this chart online from some detailing forum that broke down OEM specs by make and year. Hondas are basically sprayed thin from the factory. No wonder I was burning through clear coat on my first pass. I had to redo the whole job. Anyone else ever assume factory paint was thicker and get bitten by it?
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west.anna17d agoMost Upvoted
Heard my buddy burned through a fender on a Mazda last month doing the same thing.
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laura_black3117d ago
Was your buddy running straight water or something? I've seen people mess up paint jobs way worse from getting too aggressive with cheap tools, but a whole fender gone just from normal compound work sounds like a stretch. Most modern clear coats can take a decent amount of buffing before you hit bare metal you know. Unless he was using a grinder with a sanding disc by mistake. I bet there's more to that story like maybe he left the buffer in one spot for ten minutes or used some junk compound from a dollar store. Point is I think people blame the product when it's usually user error.
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